[You have been bound to the Palace Fighting System.]
[Your mission is to pass the selection and enter the Imperial Palace, win the Holy Favor, and become the last winner standing!]
After the car crash, Jiang Xian had fallen into a long slumber. Just as she regained consciousness, before she could even gather the strength to lift her eyelids, a synthetic, mechanical voice sounded in her brain.
'Palace... Palace Fighting?'
'What is Palace Fighting?'
Between studying at a hellish high school and working crazy hours at a tech giant, Jiang Xian had zero time for TV shows. Whenever a popular show was mentioned, everyone her age got it instantly, while she was just totally confused.
The system went silent for a moment, then switched to a phrasing she was most familiar with:
[There are seventeen job levels in the harem. You have just passed the interview for a P1 low-end position. Please leverage your initiative within the harem, strive for promotions and raises, and become a harem partner as soon as possible!]
Suddenly, it all clicked for Jiang Xian.
'Oh, so I'm just working a job in a different era!'
* * *
It had been three months since Jiang Xian transmigrated to this unknown dynasty.
Before she died, she was a high-level, P8-ranked executive at a tech giant, with a seven-figure annual salary and a boundless future.
Jiang Xian was born in a province known for its grueling college entrance exams. With unyielding tenacity, she fought her way into the best university, then threw herself into a tech giant. She gave up all her holidays, worked the most brutal overtime, and outlasted countless peers to successfully settle down in Shanghai.
Physically, she was fine, but her mind had developed a problem.
Her perception of "tiredness" had simply vanished. Fatigue is the body's warning signal, a safety net to stop people from working themselves to death. But not only had she lost that safety net, she had also developed a new problem—
Whenever she took a vacation or had free time, she would become anxious, her heart would pound, and she'd grow dizzy, as if a bottomless abyss was right behind her.
She asked a friend who was starting their own business for help:
"I feel awful if I don't work overtime for a single day, and I can't breathe properly if I take a day off. What do I do?"
The damn capitalist replied, "Is your disease contagious? Come hang out at my company and hurry up and spread it around!"
After work that very day, Jiang Xian was hit by a truck and transported to this strange dynasty, unrecorded in any history book, becoming Jiang Xian, the daughter of the Meize County Magistrate.
The original owner's mother had died young, and her father had married a second wife, Ms. Zhang. Ms. Zhang was kind-hearted; pitying the orphaned girl with no one to rely on, she treated the original owner very well. Her father, Jiang Ke, was a noble and gentle scholar. Their life was simple and pleasant, and he never thought of sending his daughter to the Imperial Palace to seek a future.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans, and an accident occurred.
In the end, Jiang Xian still chose to go to Shangjing for the concubine selection as the daughter of an official family.
And things went surprisingly smoothly!
The daughter of a poor County Magistrate was of negligible status in the Capital City. The other concubines in the same row as her were visibly trembling, despite their desperate attempts to suppress it. The concubine next to her went weak in the knees and actually knelt down. The other concubines didn't dare to help her up, but they couldn't stop their eyes from darting toward her.
Jiang Xian, however, kept her eyes forward the entire time during the palace selection. For this, she earned a comment from the Empress Dowager on her "dignified and steady" demeanor. In the end, her name-tablet was kept, and she was appointed as a Daying.
'To an office worker like me, the palace selection was no big deal at all!'
The year Jiang Xian graduated from University, it was popular for HR to use stress tests on new graduates during interviews.
All the interviewers would put on sour faces and nitpick every sentence from the interviewee. Some more dramatic companies would even deliberately have an employee burst in during the interview to create an incident and observe the candidate's reaction.
For example, a disgruntled fired employee would storm in, grab her, and demand that she judge who was right.
For example, they'd suddenly ask her: "Please explain why people have two eyes."
For example, while she was introducing herself, the three interviewers would deliberately look down at their phones and not spare her a single glance.
For example, interrupting her presentation to belittle her worth.
'During the palace selection, the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress were at least pleasant and smiling.'
'Whatever kind of employee the boss wants, that's the kind of person I'll be.'
'As long as the pay is right, I'm even willing to stop being human.'
* * *
"Jiang Daying, what on earth are you doing?"
After passing the palace selection, Jiang Xian was assigned to the West Wing of Yizhu Pavilion, while the East Wing was occupied by Chen Daying, who had entered the palace at the same time. Today, at three in the morning, a groggy Chen Daying got up to use the latrine and ran right into Jiang Daying, who was dressed in a narrow-sleeved robe and leading her Chief Palace Maid and little eunuch on a run around Yizhu Pavilion.
Chen Daying jolted awake. "Don't tell me there's a fire!"
"I'm on a morning run to build up my stamina. Would you like to join, Chen Daying?"
Hearing this, Chen Daying shook her head in disbelief. "The nanny is coming at 7:00 AM to teach us the rules. Don't be so tired you can't get up later."
After warning Jiang Xian, she went back to her room to sleep.
But when 5:00 AM arrived, the sky had not yet begun to brighten.
In the East Wing of Yizhu Pavilion, Chen Daying was woken by the soft voice of her Chief Palace Maid, He Xiang. "My lady, please get up and wash. Jiang Daying is already in the main hall's front chamber waiting for the nanny. If the nanny arrives early and only sees her but not you, I'm afraid she'll get the bad impression that you're lazy and love to sleep in..."
In the palace, nannies and eunuchs were known to be the most petty.
Chen Daying jolted and scrambled out of bed. By the time she had washed up and was fully dressed, there was still a while before 7:00 AM.
Sure enough, just as He Xiang had said, the nanny arrived half an hour early.
When Chen Daying reached the front chamber, Jiang Xian was already chatting happily with the nanny. "Some of the concubines are afraid of the hardship of learning the rules, but you, my lady, are quite eager."
Jiang Xian replied, "I've only just reported for duty in the palace. To be able to receive the nanny's guidance on the rules is already a great fortune. How could I possibly see it as a hardship?"
It wasn't that she was merely flattering her.
'What was learning the rules?'
'This was pre-employment training!'
'Besides, there's no such thing as job-hopping in the harem. Mistakes are punished with kneeling or beatings... A Daying's status in the palace is very low, only slightly better than a palace maid's. This is what I heard from the Palace Fighting System. The key point I grasped was that "the numbers of Noble Ladies, Changzais, and Dayings are not fixed"... The value of a permanent position is that each spot is accounted for. Noble Ladies are somewhat better off, but Dayings and Changzais are basically temp workers on contract. It looks like you're hired, but you aren't really considered permanent staff.'
'Once the training period is over, asking to learn the rules again would reflect badly on me.'
Hearing Jiang Daying's sensible words, a small smile appeared on the nanny's face.
Chen Daying, standing to the side, was secretly annoyed at how good this Jiang was at sucking up. Then she remembered Jiang getting up in the middle of the night and arriving so early today. 'She's bound to run out of energy while learning the rules later,' she thought. With that, Chen Daying resolved to wait and watch her make a fool of herself.
The palace had strict etiquette. When learning the rules, even just listening to the Palace Rules, one had to stand to prevent anyone from getting distracted or losing focus.
After listening to the Palace Rules, they had to learn how to walk and perform curtsies.
After that, dining also had its own rules, especially when it came to serving the Emperor his meals—though the nanny didn't actually think these two low-ranking concubines would ever have the good fortune to serve the Emperor. After all, when His Majesty chose a name-tablet, the concubine was simply packaged up and delivered to the dragon bed. After he was finished, she was packaged up again and sent back to her own palace in the middle of the night, used like a mere object.
That being said, what had to be taught still had to be taught.
If, by some chance, the Emperor was in the mood one day and a Daying committed a breach of etiquette in his presence, the nanny would be implicated.
The series of lessons was, naturally, far more exhausting than life at home.
Chen Daying, who had been waiting to see Jiang Xian make a fool of herself, found her own vision going white several times in the afternoon.
But one look at the other girl—wow, she was still full of energy.
The nanny had no intention of working them to exhaustion, so after the meal, she allowed them both to rest.
Chen Daying sat down as if she had received a royal pardon, while He Xiang fanned her.
She lifted her eyes and saw that Jiang Xian, after taking a short walk to aid her digestion, had actually gone back to the nanny's side. "I feel like I haven't quite mastered the curtsy from earlier. Would it be too much trouble for Nanny to teach me again? Also, I've memorized all the Palace Rules, but there are some extra things I'd like to ask you about..."
"Jiang Daying is so dedicated. In that case, this servant will chatter a little longer," the nanny readily agreed. "My lady may ask whatever she wishes to know. As long as it is within the rules, this servant will of course do her duty and teach you well."
Seeing this, He Xiang discreetly nudged her own mistress, not wanting her to fall behind.
But Chen Daying truly couldn't get up.
'She's just a nanny, not some Noble Lady. An old crone we'll never see again after we're done learning the rules. Is there really a need to suck up to her like this? For the rules and all that, just learning the gist of it is enough. It'd be better to spend more effort thinking about how to win the Emperor's affection in the future.'
Chen Daying was displeased.
'She's pushing herself so hard. Her stamina is bound to run out eventually!'
Jiang Xian: "Nanny, if I'm ever punished by being forced to kneel, what is the standard way to do it?"
Jiang Xian: "Nanny, and what's the protocol for attending the sick?"
Jiang Xian: "Nanny, why don't you quiz me on the Palace Rules? I suspect I haven't memorized them securely."
...
Finally, Chen Daying saw the second person run out of stamina.
But that person wasn't Jiang Xian.
The nanny's duties in the palace were few. Aside from the major and minor selections, it was usually a leisurely position. Before Nanny Zeng came, she had been worried about how to handle the new, delicate concubines and what level of discipline to use. She never expected to meet someone who was in better shape than she was!
It wasn't until the sky was completely dark that a reluctant Jiang Xian finally saw Nanny Zeng off.
According to Chen Daying's observation, it looked more like she was escaping.